What is "Eververse"&quest; Speculation on Bungie's latest trademark

Two weeks ago, on May 19th, Bungie filed three trademarks related to "Eververse" with the US Patent & Trademark Office, including "Eververse Trading Co." and the logo pictured below. As Bungie has been silent on the matter, all we can do is speculate what, if anything, Eververse has to do with Destiny.

Here's what we know so far.

The Eververse trademarks follow Bungie's filing for "The Taken King" in late April. Some believe The Taken King to be the true name of upcoming Destiny expansion Comet, which is expected to drop later this fall, but others aren't so sure. It's also possible that The Taken King will be part of the summer content Activision Blizzard CEO Eric Hirschberg teased last month.

Despite pervasive rumors that Eververse may bring player-to-player item trading to Destiny, there are enough differences between Bungie's most recent filings and their predecessors to cast doubt on this theory.

The most interesting difference between Eververse and The Taken King lies in the goods and services associated with these trademarks. While information for The Taken King only references game software, the Eververse filings also mention varied merchandise, audiobooks and ebooks, broadcast services, and ringtones.

This suggests that, whatever the Eververse Trading Co. is, it's a much different monster.

We also notice that Jim Charne - the attorney associated with Bungie's trademarks for The Taken King, House of Wolves, and The Dark Below - has been replaced in the Eververse filings by Hillary I. Schroeder. While it seems unlikely for Bungie to change attorneys without a reason, Charne's absence on the Eververse paperwork could be the result of any number of internal events.

It's also unlikely that Eververse is a new Bungie IP.

The developer previously announced a ten-year plan for Destiny, a title celebrating its first birthday this September. The amount of work Bungie is pouring into its most recent title makes this writer wonder if the company is capable of taking on the responsibility of a new franchise.

Although player-to-player trading would be a welcome addition to Destiny, Eververse appears to be something more. Chances are high we won't have any official word before Bungie visits E3 later this month. But here's our best guess: Eververse is a new addition to - or expansion of - the Bungie Store.

So it's merchandising. They're going to try and merchandise it, and make an expanded universe to try and compensate for the lack of clear lore in the game. Well, at least it'll be better than reading stupid Grimoire cards, eh?

I don't think Eververse is connected to Destiny in any direct way, honestly. It would make more sense for Bungie to have mentioned merch options in previous trademarks, if that was their intention. Because you'd obviously want to make sure your House of Wolves costumes and figures were protected from copycats, right?

Also, I like the Grimoire. Did a whole write-up on Destiny's cosmic horror aspects over at The Artifice last month.